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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26725369">A Splash of Sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Signel_chan/pseuds/Signel_chan'>Signel_chan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Swimming Pools</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:01:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26725369</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Signel_chan/pseuds/Signel_chan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kjelle tries to make the best of an unwanted day at the pool, and ends up having a conversation with a friend meant for her ears only.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Splash of Sun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Going to the local pool was not Kjelle’s preferred way to spend the day, but as she wasn’t quite sixteen and couldn’t drive herself wherever she wanted, she was at the mercy of wherever her parents or her sister wanted her to go. The pool was also not Lucina’s favorite place in the world, but she’d been convinced to go by a couple of her friends, and because she was the one in charge as their parents were out of town for the weekend, it meant Kjelle had to go with. It meant having to hang out with a bunch of older kids as well, but she was used to that, given that almost all of her friends were Lucina’s first, but they seemed more interested in splashing around in the water with each other than bothering her up on her deck chair, so there wasn’t much in the way of hanging out going on.</p><p>“Aren’t you going to get in?” Lucina asked her, calling out over the ambient noises of everyone else at the pool, and Kjelle lowered her sunglasses to see her blue-haired sister standing against the edge of the water, pushing herself up against the wall. “I bet it would be more fun than just sitting there.”</p><p>“You telling me what would be fun, that’s hilarious,” Kjelle replied, seeing her sister’s face contort into an expression of dismay, before pushing herself off the wall and swimming to rejoin her friends. Kjelle, meanwhile, put her sunglasses back on and continued soaking in the sunlight, her naturally-pale skin taking in its first tan in a while. If she had to be at the pool, she was going to make the most of it, and she certainly wasn’t going to be doing any swimming with the older kids.</p><p>Her eyes closed as she felt the warmth of the sun beginning to soak into her skin, and she knew that she was going to be nice and comfortable there for some time—as pale as she was, she rarely burned, always gaining a deep tan that put her more on level with her sister and parents, who either were always tanner or spent their time outside and tanned that way. She couldn’t exactly help it that her favorite place to be was inside doing workouts (she couldn’t stand running or anything that would reasonably take place outdoors), and she’d spent most of the summer working on her fitness, not her skin’s coloring. That was why it could be just a week before summer was over and she was still as pale as ever.</p><p>“Geez, Kjelle, you’re going to blind someone with all that white skin,” she heard someone say from right next to her, a voice timidly making a statement that could easily earn them a pummeling. She cracked open one eye to see Yarne standing at the foot of the chair, draped in a towel and looking like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was. “I haven’t seen you around here this summer, what’s changed for today?”</p><p>“Oh, you know, Lucina deciding what I get to do with my time, nothing unusual,” she replied, fully opening both eyes to get a better idea of what was going on. He was indeed standing there with the towel over his shoulders, but there wasn’t a trace of water on his skin or in his long, faded blond hair that never looked brushed. “What are you doing here? About to go for a swim?”</p><p>“Uh…no, not really!” Based solely on how he sounded panicked when he answered, Kjelle could assume that Yarne was lying to her, and when he started letting his eyes dart around after speaking she knew it to be true. He side-stepped away from the end of her chair, where she could have easily kicked him into the water, and instead sat down on the unoccupied chair next to hers, shaking his head. “I’m just here to…enjoy the sunshine! Just like you!”</p><p>Her eyebrows raised over the rim of her sunglasses, showing her complete disbelief in what he was asserting. “And I’m here because I want to be. Come <em>on</em>, Yarne, you can’t lie to me.”</p><p>“I-I’m not lying,” he stammered, only to look at Kjelle’s unconvinced face to see that his attempts at lying further were not going to get him anywhere. “I mean, I’m not about to go for a swim, that’s really the truth.”</p><p>“The swim trunks say otherwise.”</p><p>“They could be for just sitting in the sun, you’re wearing a swimsuit and you’re not swimming!” She didn’t stop giving him the expression that had originally changed his stance on lying, and so he was backpedaling once again within moments. “But, uh, yeah I’m not here to go swimming. Mostly because…I don’t know how to swim.”</p><p>Kjelle’s first instinct was to laugh, because it seemed so silly that her friend didn’t know how to swim, but then she realized she’d never once seen him at the pool in all the times she’d been there with all her friends. So instead of laughing, she sat up and gave him an understanding nod. “I get it, but at least you’re learning, right? Better than me with horses.”</p><p>“And your mom even works with horses. My parents do nothing with water, but here I am, learning to swim just in case I ever find myself in the water, about to drown.” He gave a stilted, forced laugh. “It’s kind of a silly fear, but—”</p><p>“You’ve always had a lot of those, I know.” Kjelle smiled as she interrupted him, Yarne nodding in agreement with her read on his situation. “I’m proud of you for turning your weakness into something you’re decent at.”</p><p>“—that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me about this swimming thing,” he replied, beaming at her praise. “Today’s the last lesson and then I’ll be considered able to swim, and no one else will know a thing about me having had to learn how to swim at sixteen.”</p><p>Her eyes checking the pool itself, where Lucina and all of her friends had gathered close to the edge, listening in to what Yarne was saying, and as much as she would have wanted to tell him his secret wasn’t going to remain such for very long, she decided to let him have his delusion for at least a little while. “You know my lips are sealed on this,” she told him, putting her sunglasses back down and reclining once more in her chair. “Secret is safe right here, promise.”</p><p>“You’re the best, Kjelle!” Yarne jumped to his feet, almost losing his balance and throwing himself into the pool but steadying himself before he fell. “I’ll talk to you later! Good luck on your tanning!”</p><p>“And good luck on your swimming,” she replied, waiting until he was far from earshot to let out a long sigh, only to add, “If any of you spread a rumor about him not knowing how to swim, please at least attach your name to it. Don’t ruin my friendship with your drama.”</p><p>She could hear the mutters and groans as she’d called out the plan of the group in the water, but thankfully there was one voice that stuck up for her, as big sisters should. “She’s right, if you’re going to spread rumors about Yarne, own up to them. Kjelle did nothing but be a good friend, she doesn’t need things ruined by one of you being a jerk.”</p><p>As the group dispersed, their definition of a fun time having been ruined, Lucina pulled herself out of the water to come hover over her sister’s chair, arms crossed and looking down on her. “I heard what you said,” Kjelle assured her, “and I thank you for it. Guess sometimes your bossiness can come in handy.”</p><p>“And you’re going to make <em>that</em> up to me with a little swim,” Lucina replied, reaching down and grabbing her sister’s arms, trying to pull her out of the chair. “It’s the least you can do for calling me bossy after I stood up to all my friends for you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I finished writing this last night but chose to post it today...and then ended up not posting it until late anyway, oops. happy birthday bby I love you</p></blockquote></div></div>
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